{"id":35133,"date":"2018-07-04T09:27:47","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T23:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=35133"},"modified":"2018-07-04T09:27:57","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T23:27:57","slug":"mark-williams-of-dragon-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2018\/07\/mark-williams-of-dragon-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Williams of Dragon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201c\u2026you know when we started up again it must have been an eight to ten year break where Dragon were never heard and then we started playing, this was thirteen or fourteen years ago, then we started playing around and you can see the recognition and the look of surprise and everybody down in the audience going \u2018oh my god I remember this song\u2019 and it\u2019s just fantastic to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Release: After two massive tours traversing Australia to celebrate the revered music institution that is Countdown, Dragon are taking the concept back out on the road again by popular demand for a third series, this time celebrating 80s UK Chartbusters! What started as The Countdown Years, paying homage to the television show in 2016, grew into the \u2018Aussie edition\u2019 in 2017, and saw Dragon play more than 50 Countdown-inspired shows over the past two years.<\/p>\n

While backstage at The Enmore Theatre before a show, Mark gave us a call to discuss their Countdown 80\u2019s UK Chartbusters tour, the music, covers, new music and the new album title, legacy, and much more\u2026<\/p>\n

After doing the Countdown chartbusters shows you\u2019re now currently out and doing a show of the 80\u2019s UK Chartbusters, can you tell us about these shows and how this specific concept came about?
\n<\/strong>Oh well thanks to Countdown Dragon got on the map so to speak and Molly was very obliging for the band even if they were sort of roughish back in the day, but thanks to Countdown Dragon is now where it is now just working constantly, so basically it was a tribute to those Countdown years and it started off just a general thing there are two years ago but the response was so great that last year we decided to pinpoint it in to Australian bands that sort of made it through Countdown and that was successful too. So the 80\u2019s was a really big turning point and was around the time Countdown was winding down but it still had a lot to do with introducing this whole new wave of music and digital music so that\u2019s what we jumped on.<\/p>\n

Dragon of course were huge in the 80\u2019s here and in my opinion, music was much better all-around back then, but for me the UK scene was a little different to what was going on here, how growing up in that scene did you see the differences in music across the seas?<\/strong>
\nIt was a changing of the guard in the 80\u2019s, especially when new wave came in and these ridiculous hairstyles *laughs* and what was exciting was that digital came in and it was ear splitting and just a whole different concept before you were just getting used to scratchy old vinyl on the turntable and the drums playing then everything was crystal clear and it opened up a whole array of things and music started to take left hand turns. The UK was just a really integral part of that.<\/p>\n

How did you choose the songs that would be performed?
\n<\/strong>Well Todd sort of came up with the whole list of songs and we turfed out the ones we didn\u2019t think straight off the top of our head and then we went through and we\u2019d give it a try, so basically it was trial and error and how we could make it fit into what we do because basically we\u2019re not a digital band, we\u2019re sort of guitar orientated. So it kind of had to fit into that area, so that\u2019s what started it. However, our drummer is a bit of a whiz kid and sort of taken samples of the original songs and added those to how we\u2019ve created it and it\u2019s absolutely wild to play I\u2019m absolutely loving it.<\/p>\n

Then on the other side of that were there ones you all agreed on but when you started playing just didn\u2019t work out?
\n<\/strong>Yeah *laughs* yeah I don\u2019t want to say to be honest *laughs* the songs are really good, we sort of looked at the ones that were slightly intellectual, a bit above the level that we all appreciate but we thought punters won\u2019t appreciate this *laughs* it was something basically we had to get to the nitty gritty and if it\u2019s something people can sing to, even the daggiest ones actually turned out to be really good to play live.<\/p>\n

For you is there one that you love singing more than others?<\/strong>
\nOK I\u2019ll tell you that\u2026 \u2018Everybody Wants To Rule The World\u2019 by Tears For Fears, almighty, when that happens in the set I can\u2019t get over it, the song is so beautiful\u00a0 just as you said before it was a really great period when songs were well written and produced.<\/p>\n

I think what it comes down to is that song is timeless\u2026<\/strong>
\nOh absolutely, troy and it feels like that when you go to play it, it feels like luxury and it feels like you\u2019re sitting right there in the time, in the 80\u2019s where that appeared you know and everybody going what the F is this?!<\/p>\n

Are you looking at doing the U.S. 80\u2019s next?<\/strong>
\n*laughs* They have a lot to live up to\u2026 *laughs* For us, for Australia and New Zealand I think the UK had a huge influence on us at the time, some great bands were really influencing the OZ rock style, across the Atlantic there\u2019s always been one of the countries, The UK will lead and then America will lead and take off that\u2019s always been going on, I think in the 70\u2019s very much we had \u2018Hotel California\u2019 by The Eagles in that Mid-West era, but boy when we got to the 80\u2019s and this whole new wave of music came it just finished it off for the others.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s crazy to think we\u2019re coming up on the 20th<\/sup> anniversary of Marc Hunter\u2019s passing, so thank you for helping to continue the legacy of Dragon\u2026<\/strong>
\nThis is an absolute pleasure, I love this band and I\u2019m so glad Todd asked me out of the blue if I\u2019d love to join it.<\/p>\n

What are some of your best memories of Dragon prior to your involvement?<\/strong>
\nI really didn\u2019t know Dragon then. I had a career as a solo artist in New Zealand and then here so I moved in along parallel paths but never really had anything to do with them, actually the closest I had to do with them is that my guitarist back in \u201976 \/ \u201977 was living in the same house as Dragon and that was across the road from where I was living but I never had much to do with them. I only saw Marc late at night at some dive after a gig *laughs* or I saw Todd just fleetingly but I never got to know them at all, so this was just a blast to get a call like that.<\/p>\n

So then how did it come about? If you didn\u2019t know them how did you get the call up?<\/strong>
\nIt was through Alan Mansfield who was their last keyboard player, he called me and asked me if I would sing at Marc Hunter\u2019s memorial and that was in \u201998 at St Andrews Cathedral in Town Hall square in Sydney and I said absolutely. We rehearsed the song \u2018Are You Old Enough?\u2019 and slowed it right down and I can\u2019t believe how moving it was and it was a really moving experience to actually sing it at that pace. It connected with everybody; it connected the whole story of Marc Hunter it just seemed to connect and was just a fantastic experience. I don\u2019t think Todd ever forgot that and eight years later when he thought it\u2019s about time the song book came out again I think that was the first thing he thought of and he gave me a call.<\/p>\n

Do you still get a buzz singing these songs that meant so much to people back in their growing up?
\n<\/strong>Absolutely, you know when we started up again it must have been an eight to ten year break where Dragon were never heard and then we started playing, this was thirteen or fourteen years ago, then we started playing around and you can see the recognition and the look of surprise and everybody down in the audience going \u2018oh my god I remember this song\u2019 and it\u2019s just fantastic to see. It\u2019s cross generational, like that song \u2018Everybody Wants To Rule The World\u2019, it doesn\u2019t have a generation and it doesn\u2019t have a time. They\u2019re owned by the people, I see kids looking up the words so they can sing it off their phone *laughs*.<\/p>\n

Not sure if you know but The Screaming Jets have just covered \u2018Rain\u2019 for their new covers album\u2026
\nI got a call from our producer a few days ago asking if we would listen to it and give our approval and he sent it up to us and it\u2019s fantastic.<\/p>\n

What is it about a song like that which incidentally is one of my favourite songs ever that has bands covering it to release?<\/strong>
\nSomething about what it\u2019s saying, it\u2019s very hard to pinpoint what makes a song a classic you know? This one from the word go I think the combination of the arrangement, what\u2019s being used at the time because that was early 80\u2019s too and that was part of the digital era, so I think it\u2019s just the combination, the X-Factor that you can\u2019t put a handle on but it was just one of those sorts of things that just happened. It\u2019s lasted this long. It\u2019s almost like it\u2019s a nursery rhyme and that\u2019s the thing that people latch on to , it feels like that and since talking to Todd about that song and that\u2019s exactly what they thought of, they thought of it as a nursery rhyme \u201cdon\u2019t you go out in the rain, don\u2019t go out in the rain\u201d that sort of thing and it actually works, whatever they were thinking at the time, it worked.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s easy to say what\u2019s changed over time but what would you say is the one thing that\u2019s stayed the same about Dragon?
\n<\/strong>*laughs* I think and it stems from Todd who is the only original member and he started the band I\u2019ve never seen the fire leave him, to me and that\u2019s what I think about music and performing is that I\u2019ve still got to have that energy, the initial thing that made me absolutely commit myself to music and that\u2019s what I\u2019ve seen every time with Todd. He\u2019s slightly left, he won\u2019t go down the straight and narrow path and he\u2019s everything that I could wish for *laughs* in a partner, in a comrade, he\u2019ll go down left and if it doesn\u2019t work then oh well too bad we\u2019ll just go there again *laughs*. I think it\u2019s that, it keeps us on edge, we don\u2019t rest on our laurels.<\/p>\n

Except for new music! We had \u2018Roses\u2019 out in 2014, can we expect new music from Dragon any time soon?
\n<\/strong>*laughs* Yes, I know I know it\u2019s been a while. We definitely have, we have a new CD coming out very soon. We\u2019re really excited because we actually got to record together and that doesn\u2019t happen very often nowadays in music, usually we\u2019re just recording our parts in our room and then send it to the drummer and he puts it all together. This time we actually sat in a studio two or three times over the course of last year and actually started something and finished something *laughs* it\u2019s very much a band environment and the songs we absolutely love, it\u2019s quite varied, it\u2019s difficult of Dragon it doesn\u2019t follow one path we\u2019ve taken everybody\u2019s influences and all the songs we\u2019ve all written individually and taken all that and made a mix soup.<\/p>\n

An album or an EP?
\n<\/strong>It\u2019s an album, it\u2019s ten songs, it\u2019s called \u2018A Beautiful Mess\u2019. \u2018Life is a Beautiful Mess\u2019, that\u2019s it.
\n
\nOther than touring what is next for Dragon?
\n<\/strong>Well, I think apparently we\u2019re going to be working until we\u2019re 100 *laughs* so I think that\u2019s the intention, we have no intention of stopping we just keep on working, recording, coming up with all these silly little ideas which are great because it actually keeps the spirit of the thing going like when you do The UK 80\u2019s, we still do our own stuff but we add an hour of other people\u2019s music, we don\u2019t mind doing that it\u2019s all good fun, so you\u2019ll see us just keep your eye on this page. *laughs*<\/p>\n

Lastly let\u2019s look ahead to the future, finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2018 Dragon will\u2026
\n<\/strong>Dragon will be still going *laughs* Dragon will still be rocking, there we go.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Catch DRAGON celebrating Countdown 80\u2019s UK Chartbusters on tour at the following dates!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Friday 6th July 2018 The Juniors, KINGSFORD NSW 558A Anzac Parade, Kingsford NSW www.thejuniors.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 7th July 2018 Brass Monkey, CRONULLA NSW 115a Cronulla Street, Cronulla NSW www.brassmonkey.com.au<\/a> | 02 9544 3844 www.oztix.com.au<\/a> | 1300 762 545<\/p>\n

Friday 13th July 2018 Casino RSM, CASINO NSW 162 Canterbury Street, Casino NSW www.casinorsm.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 14th July 2018 Sawtell RSL, SAWTELL NSW 38-40 First Avenue, Sawtell NSW www.sawtellrsl.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday 20th July 2018 The Bridge Hotel, ROZELLE NSW 119 Victoria Road, Rozelle NSW www.ticketek.com.au<\/a> | 1300 795 012 www.moshtix.com.au<\/a> | 1300 438 849 www.oztix.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 21st July 2018 Castle Hill RSL, CASTLE HILL NSW 77 Castle Street, Castle Hill NSW www.castlehillrsl.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 28th July 2018 Wenty Leagues, WENTWORTHVILLE NSW 50 Smith Street, Wentworthville NSW www.wentyleagues.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 4th August 2018 Revesby Workers Club, REVESBY NSW 2B Brett Street, Revesby NSW www.rwc.org.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday 24th August 2018 Dubbo RSL, DUBBO NSW Cnr Brisbane Street & Wingewarra Street, Dubbo NSW www.dubborsl.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 25th August 2018 Canterbury Leagues Club, CANTERBURY NSW 26 Bridge Road, Canterbury NSW www.canterbury.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday 31st August 2018 Dee Why RSL, DEE WHY NSW 932 Pittwater Street, Dee Why NSW www.deewhyrsl.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 1st September 2018 Hornsby RSL, HORNSBY NSW 4 High Street, Hornsby NSW www.hornsbyrsl.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 8th September 2018 The Oaks Hotel, ALBION PARK NSW 249 Princes Highway, Albion Park NSW www.theoakshotel.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday 16th September 2018 Toronto Hotel [Beer Garden], TORONTO NSW 74 Victory Parade, Toronto NSW www.torontohotel.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 20th October 2018 Shoal Bay Country Club, SHOAL BAY NSW 35-45 Shoal Bay, Shoal Bay NSW www.shoalbaycountryclub.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday 2nd November 2018 Lizottes, NEWCASTLE NSW 31 Morehead Street, Lambton NSW www.lizottes.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday 24th November 2018 Central Hotel, SHELLHARBOUR NSW 3 Memorial Drive, Shellharbour NSW www.centralhotelshellharbour.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong>\u00a0Australia<\/p>\n

Band Members:<\/strong>\u00a0Mark Williams – Vocals, Bruce Reid – Guitar, Todd Hunter – Bass, Pete Drummond – Drums<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0http:\/\/www.dragononline.com.au<\/a><\/u><\/p>\n